The Defence Heritage Bill: Can Parliament Stop the Sale of 67 Defence Sites?

On 14 October 2026, Shadow Defence Minister Senator James Paterson introduced the Protecting Australia's Defence Heritage Bill 2026 into the Senate. The bill amends the Lands Acquisition Act 1989 so that the sale of a Defence site could be blocked by a vote of either the Senate or the House of Representatives. It is a direct response to the Government's plan to wholly or partly sell 67 Defence properties around the country, including Victoria Barracks in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

If you served at, trained at or still parade at one of these sites, this affects you. Below we cover what the bill would actually do, how the sell-off got here, what each side is arguing, and the practical question we are already being asked: does any of this change a DVA claim?

What the bill would do

We have not yet seen the full text of the bill, so this section is based on its first-reading cover page and on what Senator Paterson and media reports have said about it. It has two main parts.

• A sale of a Defence estate site would have to be made through an instrument issued by the Finance Minister, and that instrument would be disallowable by either house of Parliament. In practice, a majority in either the Senate or the House could vote to stop the sale of a specific base.
• The Minister for Defence would have to table a statement in Parliament explaining why selling that site is in the national interest.

Disallowance is the same mechanism Parliament already uses to strike down regulations. Once a disallowable instrument is tabled, a senator or member has 15 sitting days to give notice of a motion to disallow it. If the motion passes, the instrument has no effect. Applied to land sales, it would mean each site could be fought over individually rather than as one package.

Senator Paterson has named Victoria Barracks, HMAS Penguin, Lancer Barracks and Irwin Barracks as sites the bill could protect. He says his 'Save our ADF Heritage' petition had passed 108,000 signatures by the night the bill was introduced.

How the sell-off started

The 2023 Defence Strategic Review recommended an audit of the Defence estate to test whether it was still fit for purpose. The Defence Estate Audit was delivered to Government in December 2023 but was not released publicly until 4 February 2026. It made 20 recommendations. The first was that Defence reduce its property holdings by selling sites.

The audit identified 68 sites. After further capability analysis, the Government kept Pittwater Annex in full. Of the remaining 67, it plans to sell 64 outright and partly sell three: HMAS Penguin in New South Wales, RAAF Williams (Laverton) in Victoria and Warradale Barracks in South Australia.

Nothing on the list has been sold yet. Defence has said complex sites such as Victoria Barracks in Sydney and Melbourne could take up to two years to prepare for sale, and that relocations would only go ahead once security, workforce and operational needs are met.

Why the Government says it should go ahead

Defence Minister Richard Marles has defended the program as better value for taxpayers and as a way to put Defence money into capability rather than into ageing, underused property, much of it in expensive inner-city locations. The Government has also made the point that the proceeds stay with Defence. Marles has so far refused to back away from the plan.

That argument is not unreasonable on its face. Plenty of Defence buildings are old, costly to maintain and no longer suited to how the ADF trains or operates. The fight is less about whether Defence should ever sell land and more about how many sites, how fast, and what happens to them afterwards.

Why veterans' groups are pushing back

The opposition has come from well beyond the Coalition. RSL Australia National President Peter Tinley said the RSL supports modernising Defence infrastructure but wants the Government to slow down. In his words, these sites are not 'empty paddocks on a spreadsheet', and 'once these sites are gone, they're gone forever'. The RSL has also asked where cadets and reservists will train, and how they will keep a presence in their communities, if local depots are sold.

RSL Victoria has called for binding heritage protections and offered to help the Government work out which parts of each site matter most to veterans. Former Chief of the Defence Force Sir Peter Cosgrove has publicly criticised the plan to sell Sydney's Victoria Barracks, and NSW Premier Chris Minns has backed a possible state heritage listing for that site. Heritage bodies including the National Trust have also objected.

Some of these places are more than offices. Victoria Barracks in Sydney dates from the 1840s. Victoria Barracks Brisbane houses the Army Museum South Queensland. Fort Queenscliff in Victoria is used for cadet training and as a museum. For a lot of veterans, these are the places they enlisted, paraded, marched out of or still gather on Anzac Day.

What the Senate inquiry found

The Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee has been running an inquiry into the management of Defence estate assets, which has received more than 100 submissions. Its interim report was tabled on 16 September 2026. Its key recommendations were:

• Recommendation 1: immediately halt the mass divestment program until proper public consultation and legislative checks are in place.
• Recommendation 2: complete the baseline security review the 2023 Defence Strategic Review originally intended.
• Recommendation 3: create a national consultation framework that requires engagement with state and local governments, veterans' groups and families before any decision to sell.
• Recommendation 5: stop actions that have hurt cadets and reserves, and invest more in their facilities.

The Paterson bill is, in effect, an attempt to put the 'legislative checks' from Recommendation 1 into law.

Will the bill pass?

Probably not in its current form. A private senator's bill from the Opposition has to pass the Senate and then the House of Representatives, where the Government holds a majority and controls what gets debated. Very few private members' and senators' bills become law.

That does not make it pointless. A bill like this keeps the issue in front of Parliament, forces senators to put their position on the record if it comes to a vote, and adds pressure alongside the Senate committee's recommendation to halt the program. We will update this article if the bill is debated or the Government's plan changes.

Does selling a base affect your DVA claim?

No. Whether DVA accepts a condition depends on your service and on the relevant Statement of Principles (SoP), not on who owns the land where you served. Your entitlements under the MRCA, DRCA or VEA do not change because a barracks is sold.

What can change is how easy it is to prove where you were and what you were exposed to. Claims that rely on a specific location are the ones to think about now. That includes asbestos in older buildings, PFAS and other contamination, fuel and solvent exposure in workshops, and the physical demands of a particular posting or role.

Your own records do not disappear when a site is sold. Your personnel file and service medical records are held centrally, and posting orders, unit records and Defence's site environmental reports exist separately from the buildings. But local knowledge, unit histories and the people who remember what a building was used for get harder to track down once a site closes. If your claim rests on a particular base, a few steps are worth taking now:

• Request your full service and medical records if you do not already have them, so you can confirm your postings and dates at each site.
• Write down what you did at the site, which buildings you worked in and roughly when, while it is fresh.
• Get statements from people who served with you at the same location, especially for exposures that were never formally recorded.
• Keep photos, unit newsletters, course reports and anything else that places you at the site.

If you served at a site with a known contamination history, read our guide to PFAS exposure and DVA claims for how location-based exposure claims are built.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Protecting Australia's Defence Heritage Bill 2026?

It is a private senator's bill introduced by Senator James Paterson on 14 October 2026. It amends the Lands Acquisition Act 1989 so that each sale of a Defence site would need a disallowable instrument, meaning either house of Parliament could vote to block it. It would also require the Defence Minister to table a national interest statement for each sale.

Which Defence sites are being sold?

The Government plans to fully sell 64 sites and partly sell three, out of 68 identified by the Defence Estate Audit. The best known are Victoria Barracks in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. The full list is in the Defence Estate Audit report published by Defence on 4 February 2026.

Has Victoria Barracks been sold?

No. None of the 67 sites had been sold as of October 2026. Defence has said the sale process for every site will start by the end of 2027, and that complex sites like Victoria Barracks Sydney and Melbourne could take up to two years to prepare.

Will the sale of my old base affect my DVA compensation?

No. DVA liability depends on your service and the SoP factors that apply to your condition, not on the land. The risk is practical: evidence about where you worked and what you were exposed to can be harder to gather once a site closes, so it is worth getting your records and witness statements together now.

What happens to cadets and reserve units at sites being sold?

Defence has said relocations will only happen once security, workforce and operational requirements are met, but it has not published detailed plans for every unit. The RSL and the Senate committee have both raised concerns about cadets and reservists losing local facilities, and the committee recommended more investment in them.

How can I have a say on the Defence site sales?

The Senate inquiry into the management of Defence estate assets is still due to deliver its final report. You can also contact your federal member and senators, raise it through your RSL sub-branch or ex-service organisation, or attend the community information sessions Defence has been running in affected areas.